defense is about positioning, not speed. And somehow I don't think they were ignorant of his speed when they drafted him #4. How fast do you really need to be when you're skating backwards half the time?

That would be true if we drafted him as a stay at home defender, but we didn't we drafted him to be the "next Niedermayer/Lidstrom" so we're expecting some goals and offensive production for him. Thus far, all he's really given us is some good defense, but not #4 overall defense, probably 3rd or 4th round defense

That would be true if we drafted him as a stay at home defender, but we didn't we drafted him to be the "next Niedermayer/Lidstrom" so we're expecting some goals and offensive production for him. Thus far, all he's really given us is some good defense, but not #4 overall defense, probably 3rd or 4th round defense

That would be true if we drafted him as a stay at home defender, but we didn't we drafted him to be the "next Niedermayer/Lidstrom" so we're expecting some goals and offensive production for him. Thus far, all he's really given us is some good defense, but not #4 overall defense, probably 3rd or 4th round defense

yeah i totally agree with this. To me seems like Larsson will be good, but from what i see i just dont see a "#4 pick good" out of him

But from the comments it seems like what we'd like to say is that a general lack of talent is the problem.

Thing of it is - a general lack of talent isn't this far reaching -- I won't give examples. I don't think it's a lack of trust in the coaching staff. I don't think these guys are deaf to the staff.

It's got to boil down to their being no hub. There are a lot of quality spokes - but there is no hub. Marty is the hub? Actually yes - now he is. It kind of goes along with my assumption that the only thing Sal had going for him was Marty. This woudl seriously annoy me if it were true. I hit the ceiling just because I am the only one here who has always said Marty as captain is ABSOLUTE BULLsh!t because he's lacking in unselfish vision - all goalies have to be self-serving. He will not be able to slip into the role of GM because he has serious tunnel vision when it comes to the game. I hope I'm way off base. in anyevent....

Whoever trusted whoever suggested Sal is the dude who's at fault here. Whoever said "I think this would be a good choice" fvcked it all up. It's an accountability thing. A room full of leaders? Who didn't want to be accountable for leading? So they palm it off on the weakest link skills wise??? CMON!

YA fvckED UP! Don't sit on your fvcking hands and say you have to sleep in the bed you've soiled - fix it. Aside from being absolute sh!t, everything looks to be set as it should be ... which is crap. Sal being captain is the the clear and obvious sign THIS TEAM THINKS sh!tTY IS LAUDABLE! ^&*@$^&*)DAMMMIT - you dont live with your fvcking mistake when it's so easy to fix.

No it's not the Sal thing in and of itself -- it's the mindset it represents. Lou, DeBoer - they KNOW what that represents. They know why they approved that choice. And now I'll give them a little bigger clue.....

YOU WERE WRONG!! YOU GOT THE MESSAGE WRONG OR TRUSTED THE SCHMUCK WHO TOLD YOU THE WRONG THING!!!!!!!! IT REPRESENTS BEING A fvckING LOSER! FIX IT NOW YOU DUMB UNOBSERVANT OVERLY TOLERANT fvckS! That wasn't really necessary... let's call them knobs instead.

Whoever had the brilliant idea of Salvadore -- it's the wrong philosophy. It's WAYYY --- WAYYYYYYYYYY too far into the great guy -- I have no idea what the hell you were thinking. but fix it now so the team understands it's time for the bullsh!t to stop. There is no one player screwign up things - like a langs or any locker room cancer or any of that - I dont see a flagrantly bad attitude that will not be ignored - this is just plain GARBAGE! Everyone is a great guy. And a nice incompetent guy has been chosen to represent them all. Whore with a heart of gold CRAP! YA DON'T MARRY HER JACKASS!!!! You let her do her job.

Again - I'm not saying this is the fix it -- it's just gets everyone head back in the right NORMAL place....

Best player avalible. He really was at that point regardless...tell me do you think Strome, Zibanejad, Couturier...etc will have better NHL careers then Larsson (regardless of position)

Clearly Edmonton, Colorado and Florida knew something that we didn't. However Larsson is far from a bad pick.

They knew it was easily to develop a forward than a defenseman. He's a season and a quarter in. It's quite possible when he gets it together and hits his prime, he won't be a Devil anymore. That's the peril of drafting a defenseman high. The same line of thinking made Milbury look like a mongoloid when he traded away an A+ defenseman that was still developing for Alexei Yashin.

Glad I didn't watch a single second of this crapfest. I guess if this team just stinks this season is probably the best to do it since it is a half season and the draft is the strongest since 2003.

Also for those going off on larsson just remember that it took a couple or so years for Niedermayer to develop into the defenseman he would be. Still plenty of time from larsson and I still see him do plenty of good things.

Larsson has looked decent in his time with us, he just hasn't looked like the stellar offensive defenseman we thought he'd be, which if he doesn't an out to be, seems like a wasted pick.

Who would you have picked over Larsson? Have you forgotten the amazing rookie season he had last year?

Face it. The whole team is garbage right now. It's not just Larsson, it's not this player or that player. It's the whole team. They've shown flashes of decent offense as of late but they still have trouble finishing.

If you're not going to have any patience with it, there's no point in drafting a defenseman. Chara was basically a skating pecker when he got started.

that's an odd "curse" autocorrect. lol

What do you mean when has he ever? He was a top 5 draft pick for that exact reason. And I;m not really trying to look at Larsson's career as a whole right now, because yeah it is a bit of a project, but I'm a little concerned he's put up like 15 points in two years with us.

The two best things I've seen from him was that goal on Niedermayer night (not sure if that was it exactly) when he tipped it to Elias, and his goal against Philly in the playoffs. And while I hate to be that guy, but Doug Hamilton practically has a highlight reel of sick passes and goals in a half of half a season with Boston

What do you mean when has he ever? He was a top 5 draft pick for that exact reason. And I;m not really trying to look at Larsson's career as a whole right now, because yeah it is a bit of a project, but I'm a little concerned he's put up like 15 points in two years with us.

The two best things I've seen from him was that goal on Niedermayer night (not sure if that was it exactly) when he tipped it to Elias, and his goal against Philly in the playoffs. And while I hate to be that guy, but Doug Hamilton practically has a highlight reel of sick passes and goals in a half of half a season with Boston

He wasn't a top 5 draft pick for offense. He was a top 5 draft pick because he's an all-around defenseman. His best scoring year was this year in the AHL, and it was pretty good, not spectacular.

And who cares what Hamilton is doing. He has 12 points and he's a minus on Boston, which means they don't let him play with/against anyone worth a damn 5 on 5. Drafting defenseman isn't a race to see who's the more productive player 1 1/4 seasons after you draft them. I mean, I'll give Devils fans a pass because they haven't drafted high in their lifetimes other than that one time, but c'mon.